ARTIST STATEMENT
The poem is sincerely just a love letter to life in Singapore. In all seriousness, I wanted to show some love for our Singaporean voice. Often we think of it as crude, whiny English, but it has its own beauty.
PRAISE
This is a testament to the power of a poem to educate. I had to google “nil sine labore” and, man, that sure is a tough motto. But it’s real! I love that this poem takes what seems like a critical view of the country yet the artist’s statement frames it as love. That is real, and that is lovely.
—Lyrical Lunacy
“singapore, my island home” responds to The Repetition prompt by Lyrical Lunacy.
singapore, my island home
this is singapore
where i am a whore
for my wage and for my dog
not yet kids some more
this is singapore
what am i working for
always buy more and more
therapist say got emotional sore
this is singapore
hey, victoria school called
they say “nil sine labore”
but what to labour for
ya, this is singapore
where my dreams never soar
i dunno, like that lor
need to be more hungry hor
@crkdnghbrcrkdhrt (she/her) is afraid to call herself a poet. She is currently a researcher and spends a lot of time either watching people or writing about them. She was a finalist in the Singapore National Poetry Festival Competition in 2015 for the poem "The Timeline of an Aged Singaporean". She spends an unhealthy amount of time yearning. She spends a somewhat healthier amount of time singing and dancing to Taylor Swift.